How You Can Help

Giving to the Academic Advancement Program

The Academic Advancement Program (AAP) is the nation’s largest university-based student diversity academic program – consisting of a collection of innovative programs serving more than 5,500 student members from multi-ethnic, low-income, first-generation, and multi-racial backgrounds annually and touching the lives of over 60,000 UCLA alumni in the last 50 years.

The program’s mission and commitment are to ensure the academic success and graduation of students who have been historically underrepresented in higher education, inform and prepare students for graduate and professional schools, and to develop the academic, scientific, political, economic, and community leadership necessary to lead and transform our society. The successful integration of the program’s three-fold mission strengthens its commitment to access, equity, and excellence.

Your support through funding and engagement will help us solidify UCLA’s commitment to serving and preparing the next generation of engaged Bruin citizens. Your gift, no matter the size, will make an incredible difference to the continued success of AAP in its next 50 years. We’d like to hear from you and your interest in supporting this initiative. Contact us at aapinfo@college.ucla.edu.

Areas of Impact

With your partnership in philanthropy and engagement, together we can showcase and further AAP’s commitments to access, equity and excellence. Creating an expanded and enhanced opportunity through program and scholarship support and services growth. Below we share more information about our five major areas of philanthropic need: 1) programmatic support, 2) supporting our students through scholarship funding, 3) Peer Learning & Counseling Services, 4) Supporting pipeline building through the Vice Provost’s Initiative for Pre-College Scholars, and 5) providing emergency fund support for our most in-need students.

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Program Support

As a leader in supporting Black, Indigenous, and students of color at every stage, programmatic support is vital to the success of the program and how many students it can continue to support and help thrive at UCLA. Supporting our students at every stage requires an adequate amount of trained and caring staff and resources for students.

Student Scholarship Support

Supporting students through scholarship alleviates financial burden and clears a path for AAPs students to focus on their studies and join and thrive in a nurturing and opportunity-filled community. AAP helps bridge the gap between typical levels of financial aid and the cost of attendance. AAP scholarships enable students who would otherwise be unable to attend a top-tier university to achieve their dreams of academic excellence. In this way, scholarships represent an investment in future generations of citizens, scholars, and leaders.

Peer Learning and Counseling

Peer Learning and Counseling

Ensure the continued success and growth of these free Peer Learning resources offered to all almost 2,000 AAP students every week who want to strengthen their abilities to think critically and independently, read analytically, write well, and study effectively.

Peer Counselors help students become responsible, knowledgeable, and independent, in both their academic and personal lives. Peer Counselors educate students about academic policies and procedures while identifying options and alternatives within the University system; this approach empowers students to make their own choices and take responsibility for these choices.

VIPS

Fund the future by helping us build a pipeline of diverse students to apply and attend UCLA and four-year institutions. VIPS is a partnership between UCLA and the Los Angeles and Pasadena school districts that prepares historically underrepresented students in 10 high schools to become competitively eligible for admission to UCLA and other flagship universities and to encourage the pursuit of graduate and professional education using a social justice framework and holistic approach.

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Emergency Funds

AAP provides financial relief during times of need to help students remain enrolled and continue successfully with their education. This includes helping with the cost of technology needs, textbooks, and even groceries. The past year and a half has especially highlighted the reliance on technology for educational purposes. Students still face challenges getting easy access to computers, printers, and reliable internet even as campus opens up. Having a robust emergency fund can help AAP address these ongoing technological needs.

We are grateful for your giving that provides us the opportunity to distribute funds to areas of greatest need in the areas of program and student scholarship support, and a variety of growth and resource opportunities for our students.

For more information on how you can support the UCLA’s Academic Advancement Program, please contact Kassie Ortiz at (310) 339-2987 or kortiz@support.ucla.edu